I love the anticipation of waiting for online shopping to arrive in the mail.
This week brought two fun deliveries…
1. LOTS AND LOTS of wooden dolls from GemmieLou. I know I have a whole heap of these dolls sitting in a basket already, but I love the new 3.5″ dolls she sells. They are big enough to be able to paint/decorate easily and for little hands to play with. (Don’t be too alarmed, they aren’t ALL for me…Carli, Chelsea and I did a combined order to save on postage!) 2. A cool print to frame from SparklePower. I have a thing for bright green with a hint of rose red at the moment, maybe some inspiration for the new house decorating? Now I just have to find a frame 🙂
Signed the contract last week and building will start in a couple of months.
Yikes! What have we gotten ourselves into?
I am grateful that designing houses is Jaron’s field of work because it is all in his very capable hands and I just have to say yes or no!
(P.S. That is the big news I was talking about) (P.P.S. That is the land in the background of the photo – it was pouring with rain all weekend and there was no time for taking a good photo!)
Winter is well and truly here…time to get jiggy with the slow-cooker! If you don’t have one, I would definitely recommend a purchase. It is the best feeling getting dinner together and cooking by 9am and then not having to think about it for the rest of the day. I’m still trying to build up a decent collection of good recipes to cook in it so if you have any to share, I would love to hear them! You can cook any soup in it – and it will never boil over! Here is one of our favuorites…
Italian-Style Lentil and Bacon Soup 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 tsp chilli paste 2 carrots, peeled and cut into little chunks 3 stalks celery, cut into little chunks 60g bacon, diced 1 large jar tomato pasta sauce 250g brown lentils, rinsed 1 1/2 litres vegetable stock salt, to taste lemon juice, to taste 2 big handfuls baby spinach leaves (optional)
Place first 9 ingredients into slow-cooker. Cook all day until tender. Add salt and lemon juice to taste. Stir spinach into soup just before serving (if using). Serve with crusty bread.
I have a copy of my new Downtown Boy pattern to give away, easy peasy to enter – just leave a comment on this post. If you want an extra entry then mention this giveaway on YOUR blog. Make sure you tell me you have done this though (leave a comment or email me) so that I know to give you two entries. Giveaway comments will close on Thursday 16th July (Australian time).
Good Luck to you! You’ve got to be in it to win it!
Certainly not me!! I’m usually not one to go against my set plans, and this pattern was not in my 12 month pattern design plan…but I just couldn’t help myself. Too many requests from sewers out there for more boy pattens and after Uptown Girl was released I got lots of emails and requests for a similar style jacket for little boys. It just didn’t seem fair that the girls could have a stylish jacket this winter and the boys had to miss out!
So, let me present…
DOWNTOWN BOY
(yeah, yeah I know the name is a little corny…couldn’t help myself!)
Downtown Boy has been designed with trendy little boys in mind. This jacket is sure to keep your little man warm during the cooler months, it looks great worn during everyday play and can also be dressed up for going out.
Funky pockets on the front and sleeve of the jacket provide both practicality as well as masculine style.
Downtown boy can easily be made reversible with the use of a reversible zipper resulting in two cool jackets in one!
You may remember I mentioned starting on this pattern the day I went into labour with Tommy. I got heaps done that day, but then it sat on hold for the next few weeks. I actually don’t know how I managed to get it all nutted out and written up so quickly, but it all just seemed to flow came together nicely. (Or maybe I am just nutty!)
Anyways, I’m thinking this jacket is pretty cool. The boys in my household give it the thumbs up and I’ve even had my brother and brother-in-law request one in a bigger size for them to wear. I always worry when designing a pattern for boys that it is going to be too babyish and not appeal to older children, so I’m glad this one is appealing to big boys! The jacket is padded with pellon. It works really nicely, not too thick but still nice and warm. I’ve had a go using light-weight pellon (the blue jacket) and a thicker one (the brown jacket) and they both work really well depending on the warmth and look you are wanting. You could also use a home decorating weight fabric or cord and no padding for a lighter, warmer weather jacket. Downtown Boy can also be a fully reversible jacket. You just have to replace the jacket zipper with a reversible jacket zipper. Unfortunately in Australia I haven’t been able to find anywhere that sells a reversible jacket zipper – can anyone out there help? I have seen them available in America though but can’t see an online store to purchase them from. You could always go for a button closure option down the front if you aren’t comfortable with inserting a zipper, but trust me, it is not as difficult as it looks. So, if you are looking for a fun, trendy winter sewing project for your little boy, then look no further! Head over to the Make It Perfect website to see more photos and check out the fabric requirements for Downtown Boy. If you have a store and want to stock this or any other Make It Perfect patterns, contact Creative Abundance to place an order.
If you would like to purchase a copy of Downtown Boy for yourself, they should be popping up in retail stores very soon. Ask your favourite store to get one in for you! Keep checking back…I’ll get a giveaway sorted in the next few days!
2. A cool print to frame from SparklePower. I have a thing for bright green with a hint of rose red at the moment, maybe some inspiration for the new house decorating? Now I just have to find a frame 🙂
